Above and Below

After the destruction of your village by evil forces, you find yourself on a journey to rebuild your life and take care of your loved ones. Determined to create a new home, you discover a region rich in resources and hidden by nature. But don't be fooled: beneath the surface, a world of mysteries and challenges awaits you. "Above and Below" combines village building with immersive storytelling, allowing you and your friends to create a thriving community both on land and in underground caves. Each player controls a village, managing its operations and deciding how to employ its residents with different skills. Villagers can be sent to explore the depths, collect valuable resources or contribute to the growth of the community. But should they take their chances in the dangerous caves or invest time in strengthening the village on the surface? Every decision matters and shapes the future of your village. The adventure intensifies when the villagers enter the caves. A storybook, read by one of the players, guides what happens on each expedition, presenting choices that directly impact your progress. Interactions can lead to great rewards or unexpected challenges, making each game unique and full of surprises. At the end of the game, the winner is the one who has managed to develop the most robust and prosperous village, overcoming the challenges that came from both within and without. Get ready to enter a world of exploration, strategy and history in "Above and Below"!

Table of Contents
- How to Play
- Tips for playing
- Game mechanics
- Game components
- Additional Information

The main objective of "Above and Below" is to build and expand a village by exploring and collecting resources both on the surface ("Above") and in an underground cave system ("Below"), competing to obtain the highest number of reputation points through construction, adventures and effective villager management.

Tips for playing

Here are some tips for doing better in the game Above and Below:

• Explore as much as possible, as the caves offer valuable rewards that can be decisive.
• Balance your actions between building and exploring to maximize the development of your village.
• Diversify your constructions early in the game; varied resources offer more strategic flexibility.
• Invest in dwellers earlier to have more actions per turn. This ensures faster progression.
• Luck on expeditions is random; be prepared to accept negative consequences.
• Use the villagers' special skills to optimize your explorations and constructions.
• Manage your resources and currency well, avoiding waste to ensure your livelihood and progress.
• Focus on increasing your fame through successful construction and exploration.

Video about the game

GAME mechanics

- Collect Sets**: Players collect Resource cards and buildings throughout the game. Each type of resource can form sets that are worth extra points at the end. Strategy is essential to maximize your score by gathering specific sets. - Negotiation: Interaction between players is minimal, but it is possible to negotiate the availability of the constructions you wish to acquire. Turn order can influence competition for certain buildings. - Storytelling**: This is a central element in Above and Below. Players have the option of exploring the underground cavern, where a story is narrated. Players choose between different options, influencing the rewards and consequences, immersing players in a unique narrative experience with each match. - Action Points: Each turn, players use their villagers to carry out specific actions, such as gathering resources, building, or exploring. Villagers have different skills and skill values can determine success in specific actions, requiring careful planning. - Dice rolling: Cave exploration involves rolling dice to determine the success of actions. Dice results define whether the player achieves the desired rewards, adding an element of luck to the gameplay.

Game components

See all the items in the game below Above and Below:

• 1 Reputation Panel
• 36 Coins (36 of 1, 6 of 5, 8 of 10)
• 81 Resource Tokens (12 fruits/fish/mushrooms, 10 pots/strings/papers, 8 ores, 7 amethysts)
• 1 Event Book
• 4 Player boards
• 25 Cave Cards
• 7 Data
• 4 colored cubes (in 4 colors)
• 25 Letters from Home
• 10 Drink tokens (Cider)
• 20 Potion Chips
• 1 Shift marker
• 9 Key House cards (with key symbol)
• 6 Star House Cards (with star symbol)
• 4 Initial House Cards
• 18 Villagers
• 12 Initial Villagers
• 6 Special Villagers
• 24 Warehouse letters
• 1 Starting Player Card

Additional Information

• Ludopedia link: https://ludopedia.com.br/jogo/above-and-below
• Link Tabletopia:
• Amazon Brazil link: Comprar Above and Below
• Amazon USA link: Comprar Above and Below

Other games